


Too Little Too Late

by 19agbrown



Category: Supernatural
Genre: 15:03 Spoilers, A little heartbreak towards the end, Based loosley on a post by Tumblr user @Isoldmysoultocastiel, Based on a Tumblr Post, Language, M/M, Takes Place Just After 15:03, Time Travel, a little violence, mention of Destiel - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-26
Updated: 2019-10-26
Packaged: 2021-01-03 15:02:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21181394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/19agbrown/pseuds/19agbrown
Summary: Some Past Deans teach 15:03 Dean a little lesson.





	Too Little Too Late

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys enjoy... but I wrote this at 2am, so please bare with me :-)

Dean sat in the Bunker's library, continuously playing that conversation with Cas on repeat. He wanted to feel bad for what he'd said, and he knew that at a different point in his life, he might be wallowing in regret over his words, but he just couldn't bring himself to feel that remorse that he knew he would've felt a year ago.

  
Suddenly a pair of strong hands grabbed a hold of his shoulders and yanked him off of the table that he'd been sitting on. When he landed on the floor, Dean's first instinct was to draw his gun, but he froze. Standing over him, breathing heavily, was-HIM. It as a younger version of himself. Standing there in a tank top with the still-fresh hand-print shining red on his bicep.

  
"I never thought that I'd turn into you. I had always thought that I'd die long before I got as old as you, but I never imagined that I'd end up doing what you did. You betrayed him. He SAVED us! He dragged our ass out of the pit, and you had the NERVE to say what you said!?" His younger self kicked him hard in the side.   
"You" the younger Dean kicked again. "ungrateful" and again "son" and again "of" and again "a" and again "bitch!" and again. By the time his younger self had completed the sentence, Dean was gasping for breath. What the HELL was happening here!?

  
"I mean, I've only known him for a couple days. I don't even really like the guy, but even I would never sink as low as you did!" Younger Dean yelled, throwing a lamp across the room. "And if you think that I'M being mean? Hell, you've got another thing coming. I'm not the only Dean who heard you, you know! That kind of betrayal causes a cross-time ripple in your past, and let me tell you, there is a LINE for you, pal!"

  
Younger Dean delivered another hard kick to Dean's ribs, before fading out of existence. Dean lay on the floor, still gasping, when another younger Dean appeared.   
This one was... different. He wasn't a past Dean that Dean had ever lived as... he was the soldier that Zachariah had shown him all of those years ago when he sent him to the future. The soldier's steely eyes stayed focused on him as he strode forward. "You know, I must say, I failed at stopping the apocalypse, and even I didn't fuck up this badly."

  
Before Dean could say anything, the soldier had lifted him up, and slammed his back into the wall. "You have no idea what you've done, do you!? How much you hurt him!? Or are you really so emotionally constipated, that you don't CARE!?" He yelled in Dean's face.

  
"In my go-round, he and I got MARRIED, and you? You ripped his heart out!" The soldier punched him square in the jaw. "Isn't it enough that you've been making my Angel question his self-worth for YEARS, but now you had to DESTROY it completely!?" The soldier punched him again.

  
"You have NO idea how much I want to tear your beating heart out of your chest right now, but I won't steal the pleasure of kicking your ass from the others. I hope you enjoy your punishment Dean!" The soldier spat, before fading out.

  
Dean slumped against the wall, holding his side with one hand, and massaging his jaw with the other, knowing that it wasn't over. Not by a long shot.

  
"What happened to you?" He heard his own voice ask. When he looked up, he saw another version of his younger self. This one would've been from somewhere around Sam's soulless days, based on the fact that the shirt he was wearing had been ruined the day that Cas ate purgatory. "I-I have spent the last however many days, working my ass off to defend him to Sammy and Bobby, and for what? For you to betray him nearly a decade later?"

  
Dean raised an eyebrow. This one didn't seem to be as angry as the last 2, although he didn't look like he had the energy for their displays. "He killed Mom." Dean told his younger self. The younger Dean's face darkened. "Yeah-no. Billie explained everything. Cas didn't kill Mom, some kid did, and from what she said, it was an accident, and said kid even tried to bring her back after."

  
Dean scowled. "Jack may have done it, but it was Cas' fault." Younger Dean was visibly angered at that. "The kid was stronger than Cas by a landslide. How the Hell did you expect Cas to stop him!?" Younger Dean stormed across the room, and pushed Dean back against the wall. "It's the same old thing, isn't it!? You blame Cas for your problems, just like Sam and Bobby are in my time! I don't CARE what he did! he's still our family, and we owe him way too much to do that to him!"

  
Before Dean could try to reason with his younger self, he was doubled over in pain, clutching the body part that his younger self had just kicked. Dean watched as this one faded out mid-punch. He really needed to stop pissing himself off that much if this was to continue.

  
The next one strode through the doorway, carrying Dean's Purgatory ax in his hand. Dean shuddered at the look of hatred that was marring is younger self's dirty face. "Look, I--" Dean tried, but his younger self cut him off. "I don't much feel like talking. You know what you did, and you deserve what's coming. That's all there is to it."

  
Dean swallowed. This would not be fun. Before Dean could react, the hard wood handle of the Purgatory ax struck him in the head. Dean hit the floor, and seconds later, he felt the handle strike his stomach, then his left shin, then his right shoulder. Dean curled into a ball, trying to protect himself from the fury-fueled blows.   
Thankfully, this version didn't stick around long. But who knew what the next one would do? Dean didn't move from the fetal position, gasping in pain with each breath. Why couldn't it just be over?

  
The sauntering footfalls that he heard, told him that it wasn't, in fact, over. "Awe, what do we have here?" Dean looked up, and saw himself with black eyes. "Shit!" He gasped out. Demon Dean smirked. "Yeah... I get that a lot, but you probably remember. Imagine my surprise when I found out that though you haven't been a demon in years, you said something worthy of one. And to Cas, no less. Hell, maybe there is hope for you yet."

  
Demon Dean sauntered over to a table, and sat on the edge, smirking at his older self. "Now, I bet you're wondering why I, out of all versions of you, would be pissed about what you said. Well, I'm not. I'm proud. And THAT is what I wanted you to know."

  
"You see, I knew that ME being proud of what you said to Cassie Dearest, would hurt you much more than even that Purgatory you's anger or that stick-in-the-mud's pain. By the way, said stick-in-the-mud hasn't visited yet, and you're going to just LOVE his little speech. He's only practiced in 50 times, just since he got in line." Demon Dean laughed.

  
"Oh, but wouldn't you know it? My time's up. Bye bye Deano." Demon Dean then faded out. Heavy footfalls alerted Dean to the arrival of the next one. "Oh Hell. I was looking forward to kicking your ass, but I guess Purgatory us wasn't joking when he said he wouldn't hold back." Strong arms gripped Dean's biceps, and hauled him up.

  
The version in front of him wasn't much younger than he was. Maybe a year or 2. "You got him back. You got something that I-" Younger Dean swallowed. It was then that Dean noticed the dirt on his younger self's knees. Oh. This one had just lost Cas. "You got him back, and you-" Younger Dean sighed.

  
"I had this big thing planned. I was gonna make you regret ever opening you mouth to him tonight. But I-" Dean watched his younger self struggle, and felt the remembered pain of right after Lucifer killed Cas. Felt the pain that to this version, was still fresh. And that, more than any beating or Demon Dean's words, hurt Dean deeply. What was he thinking, saying that to Cas?

  
Younger Dean looked him in the eyes. "I'm the last one, and when my turn is over, call him. Apologize to him. And tell him- tell him what we should've long before Lucifer took him from us. Do it for me, if not for you, because when Billie sends me back, I won't remember this. I won't remember that he's coming back. I won't have your chance. So don't waste it. I know that we're not exactly good with feelings, but--but I need you to try. Fix this, Dean. Fix it before it's too broken to fix, and don't let this happen again. Promise me."

  
As younger Dean started to fade out, Dean gripped his forearm, and said, "I promise." His younger self's grateful smile was the last thing that Dean saw of him.

  
"Dean?" Dean whirled around, and saw Sam standing in the doorway with his arms crossed. The stony expression that Sam had worn since he'd found out what Dean had done fractured, and he rushed forward. "Dean, what the Hell happened!?" Ignoring Sam's question, Dean asked one of his own. "Can I borrow your phone? Purgatory me smashed mine, and I have someone to apologize to."

  
Looking confused, Sam handed Dean his phone. Dean found Cas' name in the contacts, and pressed the little green icon next to it. Dean heard it ring 4 times before a gravelly voice answered. "Hello? Sam?"

  
Dean swallowed. "Uh...no, Cas. It's me." Sam's facial expression turned from on of apprehension to one of surprise. Cas was silent. Dean cleared his throat. "I um. I had a visit from someone. A couple someones, actually. And they made me pull my head out of my ass, and I kinda promised the least violent one that I'd do this. So...um. Say something. Please."

  
Cas' voice was cold. "I don't think there's anything left to say." Dean heard the shuffling noise on the other end, and begged, "No, Cas. Please, don't hang up."  
Cas sighed. "Then say what you need to say, Dean." Dean sighed in relief. He didn't deserve it, but Cas was letting him talk. "I-I'm sorry, Cas. I never should have said what I did." Dean could practically hear the eye-roll through the phone. "You meant every word of it, Dean." Dean gulped. "I know I did. But I don't now, and I never should have said that regardless. I-someone reminded me of how I felt when you died. When Lucifer killed you. He reminded me of how I would have given ANYTHING to have you back, but since you got back, I've just been failing you time and again, and I never told you how I felt, because I was afraid."

  
"And... now you're not?" Cas asked in a monotone. "Hell yes, I am. But I promised him I'd tell you, since he can't. I-I love you Cas. Not as a friend or as a brother, but as something else. Please Cas, please come back."

  
There was silence for a moment. Then, "I told you that there was nothing left to say, Dean. Do not call me again." Then Cas hung up. Dean handed the phone back to Sam, feeling numb. Sam stared at Dean with sad eyes. "I'm sorry, Dean." Dean shook his head. "Don't be. It was too little too late."

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you guys thought, comments are always appreciated!


End file.
